Sijilmassah

…the Amazigh (Berber) stronghold of Sijilmassa, founded in 757 ce on the Saharan caravan route from the Niger River to Tangier. A prosperous city, it was destroyed in 1363, rebuilt by Mawlāy Ismāʿīl (1672–1727), and devastated in 1818 by Ait Atta nomads. The only planned village of the oasis, Rissani,…

…who founded the town of Sijilmāssah there in 757. Tafilalt had played a role in trans-Saharan trade before the influx and settlement of the Miknāsah. After the establishment of Sijilmāssah, however, it became the foremost centre of trans-Saharan trade in the western Maghrib. At the zenith of its power during…